Inklingo

How to Say "impure" in Spanish

The Spanish word forimpureis contaminadoA2 level. This is a very common word in everyday Spanish.

English → SpanishA2
adjectiveA2
general context
A factory with dark smoke coming out of its chimneys next to a river with green murky water.

Examples

El aire de la ciudad está muy contaminado hoy.

The city air is very polluted today.

No podemos beber este agua porque está contaminada.

We cannot drink this water because it is contaminated.

El experimento falló porque el material estaba contaminado.

The experiment failed because the material was contaminated.

Matching the Noun

This word must change its ending to match what you are describing. Use 'contaminado' for masculine things (like 'aire') and 'contaminada' for feminine things (like 'agua').

Using with 'Estar'

Since being polluted is usually a state or condition, we almost always use this word with the verb 'estar' (to be) rather than 'ser'.

Gender Mismatch

Mistake:El agua está contaminado.

Correction: El agua está contaminada. Even though 'agua' starts with 'el', it is a feminine word, so the adjective needs an 'a' at the end.

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